Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watch Hill, Rhode Island 02891
Tuesady, June 26, 2001 19:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane taxied to the active runway, and departed with approximately 15 to 20 gallons of fuel in each main tank and approximately 5 gallons of fuel in each tip tank. Between 800 and 1,000 feet agl, the pilot retracted the flaps, selected the electric-driven fuel pump to off, set manifold pressure to 25 inches of mercury, reduced propeller RPM to 2,500, and leaned the mixture control to 18 GPH. While operating on the right main fuel tank, and climbing through 2,800 to 3,000 feet over the water, the pilot experienced a sudden loss of engine power. He described the change as if the propeller rpm had gone from low pitch to high pitch. He added that the propeller continued to rotate at 2,300 rpm, and engine manifold pressure stabilized around 15 to 17 inches of mercury. The pilot set the mixture control to full rich and placed the electric-driven fuel pump to "ON," but the engine did not recover. The pilot changed the fuel selector from the right-main tank to the left-main tank, and then waited, but still the engine did not recover. During the descent the engine and system instruments were in the normal operating range. The pilot pulled the throttle control all the way out, and manifold pressure dropped to 10 to 12 inches of mercury. He then pushed it pack in, and the manifold pressure returned to 15 to 17 inches. The pilot selected the left magneto and then the right magneto to "OFF." He then placed them back "ON" in the opposite order. Still the engine did not respond. The pilot then ditched the airplane, and the occupants exited into the water. The pilot did not get a chance to select an alternate air source during the descent. About a month after the accident, the engine was recovered from the ocean, and then examined by the Safety Board. During the examination, no preimpact failures or malfunctions were identified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power for undetermined reason.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/26/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1910 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Watch Hill |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02891 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411447N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0714659W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1856 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GON |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10769 |
| NTSB Notification Source | New England Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 26 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Bedford FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4063R |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA154 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-40371 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 18 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 6789 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kat, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Lumber Yard Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | East Haddam |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06423 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BID |
| Departure City | BLOCK ISLAND |
| Departure State | RI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GON |
| Destination City | GROTON |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 1 2001 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |